St. Louis  Rep. Todd Akin renewed his vow to carry on with his embattled Senate campaign Tuesday, even as a key deadline loomed to withdraw from the race over his comments that women's bodies can prevent pregnancies in cases of "legitimate rape."

Akin, who has been frantically trying to salvage his once-promising bid against incumbent Democrat Claire McCaskill, insisted the uproar surrounding his remarks was an overreaction to misspeaking "one word in one sentence on one day."

For the second time in two days, Akin went on the radio show hosted by former Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee to say he planned to stay in the race, despite constant urging from prominent members of his own party to step aside.

"I guess my question is: Is there a matter of some justice here?" Akin asked. After his original statement, "all of a sudden, overnight, everybody decides, 'Well, Akin can't possibly win.' Well, I don't agree with that."

The race has long been targeted by the GOP as crucial to regaining control of the Senate.

"I hadn't done anything morally or ethically wrong, as sometimes people in politics do," Akin said. "We do a lot of talking, and to get a word in the wrong place, still, that's not a good thing to do, or to hurt anybody that way, it does seem like a little bit of an overreaction."

Hours earlier, he posted a video online in which he apologized again.

But ominous signs were mounting against the six-term legislator from suburban St. Louis, most notably the apparent loss of millions of dollars in campaign advertising money.

The decision has some urgency. Missouri election law allows candidates to withdraw 11 weeks before Election Day. That means the deadline to exit the Nov. 6 election is 5 p.m. Tuesday. Otherwise, a court order would be needed to remove a name from the ballot.

The uproar began Sunday, when St. Louis television station KTVI aired an interview in which Akin was asked if he would support abortions for women who have been raped.

"It seems to me, first of all, from what I understand from doctors, that's really rare. If it's a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down," Akin said.

In the interviews with Huckabee and Sean Hannity on Monday, Akin acknowledged that rape can lead to conception.

"Rape is never legitimate. It's an evil act. It's committed by violent predators," Akin said. "I used the wrong words the wrong way."

But the damage had been done. The comments drew a sharp rebuke from fellow Republicans, including presumptive presidential nominee Mitt Romney and his vice presidential choice, Rep. Paul Ryan, of Wisconsin.

The Senate's top Republican, Mitch McConnell, said Akin's comments might "prevent him from effectively representing" the Republican Party. He called on Akin to "take time with his family" to consider whether he should continue in the Senate race.

Two other Republican senators, Scott Brown of Massachusetts and Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, urged Akin to resign.

Akin also apparently lost a key source of funding. Sen. John Cornyn, head of the National Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee, told Akin that $5 million in advertising set aside for Missouri will be spent elsewhere and that Akin will get no other help from the committee, according to a committee official who spoke on condition of anonymity because the conversation was private.

Cornyn told Akin that he was endangering the GOP's hopes of getting a Senate majority by staying in the race, the official said.

Republican frustration grew Tuesday. Two GOP officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity because they did not want to irritate Akin, said party officials seeking to talk with him were having trouble reaching him Monday night and Tuesday morning.

Akin campaign spokesman Ryan Hite declined Tuesday to reveal Akin's whereabouts but said he was not in his suburban St. Louis campaign office. Hite said the campaign may release information about his public schedule later.

At least one political interest group that has pounded McCaskill with attack ads, the Karl Rove-backed American Crossroads, also pulled its ads from Missouri.

The apology video Akin posted on YouTube early Tuesday was an apparent attempt to claw back some of that funding.

"Fact is, rape can lead to pregnancy. The truth is rape has many victims. The mistake I made was in the words I said, not in the heart I hold. I ask for your forgiveness," he said in the video.

President Barack Obama said Monday that Akin's comments underscore why politicians — most of whom are men — should not make health decisions on behalf of women.

"Rape is rape," Obama said. And the idea of distinguishing among types of rape "doesn't make sense to the American people and certainly doesn't make sense to me."

It was just two weeks ago that Akin was at the top of the political world in Missouri after winning a hotly contested three-way battle with millionaire businessman John Brunner and former state Treasurer Sarah Steelman for the right to challenge McCaskill in the November election. Missouri has grown increasingly conservative in recent years, and McCaskill is seen as vulnerable.

She was not among those calling for her opponent to get out of the race.

"What's startling to me is that (Republican) Party bigwigs are coming down on him and saying that he needs to kick sand in the face of all the primary voters," McCaskill said at a campaign event Monday in suburban St. Louis. "I want Missourians to make a choice in this election based on policy, not backroom politics."

One anti-abortion group expressed support for Akin, while another called on him to step aside.

Missouri Right to Life, which opposes a woman's right to get an abortion even in cases of rape and incest, said Akin's "consistent defense of innocent unborn human life clearly contrasts" with McCaskill's position.

But the Christian Defense Coalition called on him to withdraw.

Names are being floated about a possible replacement for Akin. A favorite is Tom Schweich, the state auditor who was courted to run for Senate earlier this year but declined.

Other names mentioned include former Sen. Jim Talent, who lost to McCaskill in 2008; former Gov. Matt Blunt, the son of Missouri's other senator, Roy Blunt; two members of Missouri's House delegation, Blaine Luetkemeyer and Jo Ann Emerson; and Akin's two unsuccessful primary opponents, Brunner and Steelman.

Talent, who lost his seat to McCaskill in 2006, said Monday he had been asked to run but declined.

If Akin were to leave, state law gives the Republican state committee two weeks to name a replacement. The new candidate must file within 28 days of Akin's exit.

Associated Press writers Henry C. Jackson in Washington; Jim Suhr in St. Louis; and Chris Blank and David Lieb in Jefferson City, Mo., contributed to this report.

August has been the gift that keeps on giving for Democrats. First, Paul Ryan, then Todd "The Brain" Akin, and capping off with Kevin "Shrivel" Yoder. At this rate control of the House will be in play by mid-October.

He opened up his mouth and spit out his true feelings about women and rape. If more politions would do the same we would have a lot less polititions. He lost my vote and forfited the election to Clare. Nothing he can do will reverse the effects of what he said.

The ignorance, the raw ignorance of this man is unbelievable. How low will such a man grovel and grovel he will, like all defiant Christian Republican politicians have before him. Perhaps a naked swim in the salt waters of the Holy Land will help?
How can one claim to have 'misspoken', Legitimate Rape? You do not have to wonder what was in this mans head or heart - he knew what he was saying, but didn't like the consequences of his actions when his words saw the light of day. Vote him down down down. Stay in the race Todd Aiken and take your punishment like the low life you are.

The most tasteless, thoughtless comment that could possibly be made has been made by you. Taking the most extreme examples and setting them against the vast majority of reported, and unreported, "legitimate" rapes is akin to saying nobody should be prosecuted for murder because someone was aquitted.

How dare you ignore the sensibilities of women, the actual science of rape, and the realities of human existence to further this demon's agenda. You have no more sense than the Republicans who will still vote for this poor excuse for a politician and a person.

Joe says stupid stuff to be sure, but this is WAY over the top. It disqualifies him because it shows how he believes in any bs that some right week anti abortion person pushes at him and he doesn't care about his women constituents. And no, he isn't referring to false rape accusations. He is referring to a study which has been discounted again and again.
And McCaskill supports the right to choose for women. The rights of women, which Mr. Akin seems to have forgotten.

ryan and he share the same views but now ryan is backtracking, it's great that he turns his back on his partners when the wind shifts direction, imagine, the republicans who believe the same as akins want him to step down because he hurts the cause, the republican voters chose him as the candidate but now the republican bigwigs don't want him so screw the democratic process, tell him to get out of the race

Way to go, Akin.
If you were in Kansas you'd have supporters hopping on your bus to chik-fil-a.
What's your medical background, Todd? No, the New Testament is not a medical textbook.
Given enough rope...

Let's see.... stating as fact that women's bodies will often reject any truly "unwanted" attacks, insinuating that many rapes are in fact made up by the victim, and goose-stepping for the unborn while ignoring the victim.

Romney/Ryan and other GOP members are asking him to bow out of the race and are distancing themselves from this guy to avoid negative publicity, but he simply said what all the Conservatives base their campaigns on. I hope Republican voters understand that Akin is no different from other politicians running on the Republican ticket. They have no regard for women and are considered the vagina police.

so he didn't withdraw by the 5pm today deadline to make it easy to take his name off the ballot, what happens if he later drops out and they appoint someone else to replace him or i guess i'm wondering if anybody knows the rules

Akin is one of the congressmen who tried to redefine rape in an abortion bill as "forcible rape". And he clarified his misspeaking about legitimate rape on one of the radio shows. He meant forcible rape instead.

Given the reality of running for high public office nowadays: If I (or I suspect anyone) had to speak at an early morning pancake feed at a local VFW and at a late night meeting in some rural home, and had to speak for the entire 18 hours in between, at some point I might misspeak. I'm surprised this sort of thing doesn't happen more often.

Yes, Bozo has every right to respond to my every comment. All of them. Over and over again. Again and again.

You get my point.

Then again, there is a fine line between responding and becoming a troll. That line was crossed many moons ago. And I believe that I have just as much right to say that as she does to be critical of my every post. Even the ones she agrees with.

Well hawkinsf, what Akins did is let the truth slip out. That is why why lying is a slippery slope because it leads to more lies. If you just stick to the truth, its easy to remember and if your tired and just rambling the truth might just slip out. Akin just left a garage door size opening into what he really thinks. It came easily and naturally to him and that is why he is so taken aback at the negative response to his candor. After all, its just the truth.

Not to defend bozo, because I don't believe he needs it, but he is correct in his very direct and straight-forward response. It is one thing to misspeak -- we have all done so. However, making up facts about women being able to magically avoid getting pregnant if raped isn't misspeaking. That is a case of Akin making things up to support his stand against all abortions, including those in cases of rape and incest. He didn't misspeak, but was frank about what he thinks. There is a difference.

And I don't believe Akin needs to go since he represents the views of many on the right.

There is no clause allowing for abortion even in the cases of rape and incest under the GOP platform. Why should Akin abort his run for the Senate when he represents the views of so many within the GOP?

"I hadn't done anything morally or ethically wrong, as sometimes people in politics do," Akin said. "We do a lot of talking, and to get a word in the wrong place, still, that's not a good thing to do, or to hurt anybody that way, it does seem like a little bit of an overreaction."Akins

He didn't misspeak, he simply let the republican truth slip out. The republicans who think he should drop out of the race simply are mad at him for telling the republican truth. Just like the Pennsylvania republican legislator that said "The voter ID law in Pennsylvania will deliver a victory to MItt Romney." The republicans just don't like their real agenda to be laid out like Akins did. They would rather sell snake oil and then do whatever they want once they win an election.

Seems to me the Right Wing needs to re-think their archaic “if you play, you pay” philosophy … and the Left Wing needs to re-think its position regarding at what point the rights of the unborn achieve parity with the rights of the pregnant.

In the United States:
Number of abortions per year: 1.37 Million (1996)
Number of abortions per day: Approximately 3,700

1% of all abortions occur because of rape or incest; 6% of abortions occur because of potential health problems regarding either the mother or child, and 93% of all abortions occur for social reasons (i.e. the child is unwanted or inconvenient).

52% of all abortions occur before the 9th week of pregnancy … 25% happen between the 9th & 10th week, 12% happen between the 11th and 12th week, 6% happen between the 13th & 15th week, 4% happen between the 16th & 20th week, and 1% of all abortions (16,450/yr.) happen after the 20th week of pregnancy.

We are just about at the point that a woman can climb out of bed, take a home pregnancy test, and determine that she has been impregnated.

With that being the case, why would any thinking person, claiming to be concerned with life, freedom and individual rights, support an unrestricted 9-month right to abort a fetus?

I believe the unrestricted support for the "our body-our choice" stance will eventually bite the Left Wing in the butt … while in the US, white women obtain 60% of all abortions, their abortion rate is well below that of minority women. Black women are more than 3 times as likely as white women to have an abortion, and Hispanic women are roughly 2 times as likely.

Like HIV and crack cocaine, I suspect there will be a time when minorities will accuse the Government, via it support for the Pro-Choice movement, of supporting abortion to control minority population growth ... being a victim in this country is so lucrative!.

The Guttmacher Institute would argue with you. http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/fb_induced_abortion.html/
However, I guess that should be expected when you get your "facts" from a website called "abortionno.org"
I personally find it very telling that nearly half of all abortions are among women that are at or below 100% of the Federal poverty level and that the most common reason given for having an abortion is poverty.
What's the matter, heygary, not enough poor people for you?

Spontaneous abortions (miscarriages) are not limited to that subset of pregnancies defined as unwanted. Additionally, we must presume that at least some abortions occur when the woman feels pressured into doing something that she does not want to do (unwanted by someone, perhaps the prospective mother's parent(s), or the prospective father but in fact wanted the mother?).

It's a very complex issue, one that I wouldn't feel too comfortable using the number 100% to say anything.

Cornyn told Akin that he was endangering the GOP's hopes of getting a Senate majority by staying in the race, the official said.

Even Cornyn is willing to admit that the republican ideology, when let slip out, is damaging to the republican party's chances to win elections. They just have to keep these policies under wrap because they know that the electorate wouldn't approve. It makes Fox's job of propaganda and misinformation a lot harder when the truth gets in their way.

It appears that the newest Republican platform includes a constitutional amendment outlawing abortion with NO exceptions. None.

For those of you who backhanded "liberals" for paranoidally suspecting the anti-abortionists of trying to totally outlaw abortion, let's hear from you now. Not that the "pro-lifers" ever made any secret of their intentions, but it was a nice comparison the anti-restrictions on guns people could use to pretend that the complete outlawing of guns was the intended result of those who wished to pass some restrictions.

So---let's pass this one and get rid of the 2nd amendment. Any takers for that swap?

Oh ye of little faith, are you not aware that these people, Tait, Brownback, Bush, Yoder, Perry, etc... go to church every Sunday to show the world that they are all holier than thou? These are what REAL Christians look like & what REAL Christians do! They do not want ANY government in our lives, (except of course for the fine print which says that their "less government" will decide what a woman can or cannot do with her own body (hmmmm, didn't a guy named Hitler sort of say those same things?). And I know there's a bible verse somewhere about when Jesus got plastered & jumped in the jordan river naked - but I just can't seem to find that one? And we all know the parable about when Jesus hung out with the billionaires & passed the legislation that forced all those scumbag people eating their meals out of trashcans to pay for the billionaires' taxes - I think that one is in Matthew? Oh no, Matthew was a tax collector, so which side was he on again? - it's really quite confusing isn't it?

The "Demon Seed", If you get it through a legitimate rape, your body will reject it and expell it. However if the rape is not legitimate and you get pregnant, you must carry the "Demon Seed" to full term and nurish it as your own. Demon Seeds are to be protected under all the laws of man and God. Todd Akin.